Places Of Historical Interest Around Adana

Misis: 27 kilometers from Adana toward Ceyhan is the site of the very ancient city of Mopsuestia, known in the middle ages as Mamistra, and now as Misis. Mopsus, the senni-iegendary founder of Mallos, who is mentioned in the Karatepe inscriptions, was supposed to be the founder, Over the Ceyhan river is a Roman bridge built under Just-. inion. The remains of the Greco-Roman city are in a large mound near the modern town. In Byzantine times, Mopsuestia was a Cilician bishopric. Recently, in an orange grove, a mosaic fioor of a Byzantine church has been found. The design, according to an inscription, depicts Noah’s ark with a parade of birds ond beasts forming a border. At the site of the city there remain but faint outlines of a theater and stadium, and a few stones from the aqueduct,

Mopsuestia, from early association with the Hittites, passed to the Seleucids, to the Romans, to the Byzantines, to the Arabs, to the Armenians, shifted back and forth between the Crusaders and the Mamelukes, ond at last passed into the hands of the Ottoman Turks.

Megarsus: At the time of Alexander the Great’s visit to Cilicia, Megarsus, and Mallos were the two cilies that he visited, Megarsus was on the shore of the Mediterranean, and Mallos was at the mouth of the Pyramus river. Megarsus is said to have been at the site of the present Karata?. There remain to be seen some ruins of walls, baths, a theater and a stadium. About a hundred feet into the sea there are some parts of pillars visible which led to the legend that there is a sunken city off shore.

Mallos: All of the remaining stones from the ancient city where there was a pagan temple, have been removed and built into neighboring village houses. Even the stone walls were taken but one stone with the Inscription, «Mallos» was found in the village of Kiziltahta indicating that the site was nearby.

Yilan Castle: Although not mentioned in the histories of the Crusaders, it is assumed that it was a Crusader castle with Tumlo and Anavarza and that there was a signaling system between them. Yilan means snake and it used to be thought that the castle was snake-infested, as the castle seems to have been abandoned rather than conquered. It is in a good state of repair, and presents an interesting example of medieval defense building.

Sirkeli: Across the river from the castie, near the highway. Is the village of Sirkeli. On a rock at the river’s edge is the figüre.